Why do we regard certain things as “sacred”? Why should anyone believe in God? Where does such an idea even come from? Why do religious believers always bring God into discussions about right and wrong? Is it credible that God would send revelations to just a few people and force the rest of us to take their word for it? I examine all of these questions in the essay below. It’s a bit of a monster (19 pages), but these are big questions, so we shouldn’t expect single-sentence or even single-paragraph resolutions to them. They also happen to be the most important questions, so I think readers will find them well worth thinking through.